Malawi thunderstorm blows off roofs of over 200 houses, school

Hundreds of families have been rendered homeless in Traditional Authority Mponda in Malawi’s lake shore district of Mangochi following a severe eight-hour heavy down pour.

The heavy rains, which have caused havoc in five villages, have also left one person, a girl student, injured.

Mangochi District Council’s Director of Planning and Development, Ernest Kadzokoya, said the rains started around midnight on Tuesday.

“We had heavy rains on Tuesday night that lasted for several hours and roofs of over 200 houses have been blown off. As I am speaking we are assessing the extent of the damage to see how best we can help,” he said.

Among the damaged properties include an administration and library blocks of Mpondasi Community Day Secondary School (CDSS) and houses belonging to TA Mponda and ruling Peoples Party (PP) Provincial Chairman.

“An office belonging to Senior Chief Mponda and a number of other facilities have been damaged,” he explained.

Kadzokoya said the student was injured by a brick which fell on her as she tried to flee “but the injury is not that serious.”

He said a team from the district council’s office was currently on the scene to assess the situation before helping the most-affected victims with food and shelter.

“We also want to assess the damage of the road network,” said the director.

Reports reaching Nyasa Times also indicate that hundreds of Malawians in the area of TA Mavwere in Mchinji district have been down and out after another severe thunderstorm hit the area.

Last month, fierce floods also dispossessed close to 1000 families from 16 villages, including 10 families of police officers based at Kaporo Police Station, in the area of TA Kilupula in Karonga district.

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